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She has been largely forgotten by the public, despite being on the throne at the creation of the United Kingdom and having one of the most fascinating, and tragic, personal lives of any Queen of England.

But now Queen Anne is to take centre stage once again as her relationship with two of her closest female aides is explored in a film starring Olivia Coleman and a royal exhibition.

The Favourite, which opens in cinemas on New Year's Day and is already the winner of several British Independent Film Awards, details Queen Anne's intimate relationship with the Duchess of Marlborough, Sarah Churchill, and new upstart Abigail Hill, and the bitter rivalry that would consume their court.

The movie, also starring Emma Stone and and Rachel Weisz, was filmed partly on location at Hampton Court, in the Tudor kitchens and Cartoon Gallery.

Now Historic Royal Palaces are continuing that relationship into the real world, with Kensington Palace hosting a new exhibition showcasing costumes from the film and promising to tell the Queen's real story.

The costumes on display at Kensington PalaceCredit:
REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

Matthew Storey, curator, said: "At Historic Royal Palaces, we've been wanting to tell Queen Anne's story for a while.

"She seems like a slightly forgotten monarch.

"We've been doing a lot of research into how we can tell diverse stories, especially LGBT stories, and Queen Anne is a key person for that.

"It seemed a perfect opportunity when everybody would be finally hearing about these stories, there'd be all this attention because of the film, that we could tell the stories of these real people, at Kensington Palace, where they lived, loved, and died.

"Our visitors can walk in the footsteps of history where it happened."

Storey said that the exhibition would resist giving modern values to Queen Anne's relationships, saying labels including LGBT would have been viewed very differently in the 18th century.

"She does write incredibly passionate letters to Sarah saying how much she wants her always by her side. There was a really close and important relationship there, but whether it was physical or not we'll never know."

The Queen and the Duchess were friends from girlhood, in a relationship which persisted until Churchill and her husband were dismissed from court in 1711. The falling out is believed to have been over the amount of time the Queen was spending with the younger Abigail.

Before that, Churchill had been one of the most powerful women in England, exerting significant political influence over the Queen, who reigned from 1702-1714. Anne turning to other advisers is also thought to have soured relations.

As well as intrigue over her relationship with Churchill, Queen Anne's personal life is notable for the tragedy of her struggles to have children. Of 18 pregnancies, only one child lived, William Duke of Gloucester. He died aged just 11 in 1700.

As Queen, she over saw the 1707 Act of Union which combined England and Scotland into a single kingdom with one parliament, flag, coinage and customs union.

Asked why Queen Anne had been forgotten, Mr Storey: "Her reign was short, and a lot of attention is given to the Stuart monarchs who come before her.

"But actually her reign changed Britain forever and gave us the UK as we know it today. It is incredibly important for the history of the UK."

Kensington Palace has turned over its Queen's Gallery for the exhibition, displaying the costumes made by Sandy Powell, a three-time Oscar winner, who has used "inspiration" from real 18th century styles mixed with modern fabrics alongside quotes from Powell and historic context provided by Historic Royal Palaces.